r-7 



SAXONY, KINGDOM OF. 



SAXONY, KINGDOM OP. 



contain also notices of the towns. [EBKUBT ; MAGDKBURO ; MEBSE- 

 BORO ; ASCHERSLEBEN ; BUBO ; HALLE ; H ALBEKSTADT, &c.] 



SAXON Y, KINGDOM OF. Taken in its most extensive sense, the 

 name of Saxony formerly designated a very large tract in Northern 

 Germany, extending from the Weser to the frontiers of Poland. At 

 the peace of 1495 the emperor Maximilian I. divided Germany into 

 ten circles, of which the extensive tract of country hitherto called 

 Saxony formed three, namely, Westphalia, Lower Saxony, and Upper 

 Saxony. The last of these comprised the electorates of Brandenburg 

 and Saxony, the duchy of Pomerania, and several small principalities. 



The kingdom of Saxony was formed out of the electorate of the 

 same name. The duchy of Saxony, to which the electoral dignity and 

 the office of hereditary marshal of the empire were attached, was 

 however no part of the ancient German duchy of that name (which 

 was composed of Lauenbnrg and a tract on the other side of the Elbe), 

 but a Wend or Vandal province which Albert the Bear, margrave of 

 Salzwedel, of the bouse of Ascania, had conquered and left to his son 

 Bernhard. This Bernhard received from the emperor Frederick Bar- 

 barossa (after Henry the Lion had been declared under the ban of the 

 empire) the dignity of dnke of Saxony, to which were attached a part 

 of Kiigern and Westphalia, extending from the Weser, which separated 

 it from Eastphalia, weatward to the Khine. But Bernhard not being 

 powerful enough to maintain the rights attached to his dignity, and 

 to take possession of the duchy assigned to him in Westphalia, mt 

 of the Saxon allodial proprietors became immediate estates of the 

 empire, by which the duchy was dissolved, and its name transferred 

 to the country inherited by Bernhard from his father, to which from 

 that time the ducal dignity was attached. The house of Ascania 

 becoming extinct on the death of Albert III., in 1422, the emperor 

 Sigumnnd invested Frederick the Warlike, margrave of Meissen, with 

 the electoral title and the duchy of Saxony. He was succeeded in the 

 electoral dominions by his son, Frederick the Mild, who reigned from 

 1488 to 1464. On his death his dominions were divided between his 

 two cons, Albert and Ernest, who were the founders of the Albertine 

 and Ernestine lines, the former of which still reigns in the kingdom 

 of Saxony, and the latter is divided into the four branches of Saxe- 

 Altenburg, Coburg-Gotha, Meiningen, and Weimar. 



In the war with France, in 1793, Saxony furnished only a small 

 contingent, and took no decided part ; but in 1806 the elector sent all 

 hi* troops to support the king of Prussia. The niin of the Prussian 

 power by the battle of Jena enabled Napoleon to gain the Saxon* to 

 his cause. Prussian Poland was added to the dominions of Saxony 

 under the title of the grand -duchy of Warsaw, and the title of elector 

 was changed to that of king. Further cessions from Austria in 1809 

 nearly doubled the territory of Saxony ; but the adherence of the king 



him in 1813, when the 

 Prussians made Saxony the 

 with the French 



to the cause of Bonaparte proved fatal to 

 BiMsisni occupied Poland, and with the Pr 



theatre of the great 

 the battles of LuUen and 



were fought, 



emperor. 

 , and were 



In that year 

 d by 



the attacks on Dresden, the great battle* of Leipzig, and the retreat 

 of Bonaparte to the Rhine. The people of Saxony had hoped that 

 their attachment to the cause of Germany, is proved by the desertion 

 of their troops from the French army in the battle of the 18th of 

 October, would secure the integrity of their territory. The fate of 

 Saxony wa* to be decided in the Congress of Vienna, and it wa* at 

 first proposed that the whole kingdom should be united with Prussia, 

 for which a territory in Westphalia, with 300,000 inhabitant*, was 

 ottered to the king as an indemnity, which was refused. At length it 

 wa* decided that the kingdom should be divided, and on the 18th of 

 May 1815 the king signed a treaty of peace with Prussia, by which he 

 gave up more than half hi* dominion* in point of extent, and nearly 

 the half of the population, or a territory of 7880 square miles, with 

 845,218 inhabitant*. 



The present kingdom of Saxony lies between 50* 10* and 61* 88' 

 N. lat, 11' 54' and 15* 5' B. long. It i* bounded N.W., N.,and N.E. 

 by Prusria ; B. and 8. by Bohemia ; S.W. by Bavaria ; and W. by 

 RCUM and Hejte-Aitenbnrg. Its form i* triangular, the bane resting on 

 the Bieiengibirg* and the Engebirge from the Neiaes, on the border 

 of Sileefe, to the Frankenwald, on the north boundary of Bavaria; and 

 the vertex extending a little to the north of the city of Uipzig. The 

 length of the bee* i* about 150 miles, and the height of the triangle, 

 from a little north of Leipiig to the point where the meridian of 13* 

 B. long, erase* the Engebirge, i* about 76 mile*. The ana i* 5752 

 i miles, and the population in 1858 amounted to 1 ,987,832. The 

 arc chiefly of German descent; about 40,000 are of the 

 All except about 30,000 Catholics and 1000 Jew* are 

 of the Lutheran religion. The Slavonian* were the original inhabit- 

 ant*, and their subjection was effected in the 10th century. They 

 now known under the name of Wend*, and live apart from the Ger- 

 man* ; they do not intermarry with them, though they inhabit thi 

 same town* or village*. Thus they have preserved their language anc 

 several peculiar custom*. They are only found in that part of Saxon] 

 which is east of the Elbe, especially in Bantaen and in the vicinity of 



and Soil The river Elbe, traversing the kingdom from 

 sauMTsasl to north-west, divide* it into two unequal portions, betw 

 which a considerable difference exists also in wealth and productive 

 power*. 



The eastern and smaller portion, which comprehends the south- 

 western part of the country, formerly called Lusatia, is less favoured 

 >y nature. The most elevated part of the country lies contiguous to 

 he boundary of Bohemia, and is known by the name of the Mountains 

 >f Lusatia. It does not however present a chain of mountains, but is 

 an elevated flat, which towards the south descends into Bohemia with 

 rather rapid slope, but towards the north forms extensive plains, 

 which are nearly level, lowering with an almost imperceptible slope. 

 )n these plains rise several masses of rocks in the form of small table- 

 ands, and hi some places there are numerous small conical hills. The 

 xise of the rocks ia granite or gneiss, but the more elevated parts 

 consist of basalt. The most elevated summits, proceeding from east 

 o west, are Mount Oybin and the Hochwald near Zittau, which rise 

 respectively to 1680 and 2520 feet; Mount Lausche, which attains 

 2637 feet; the Schlossberg, near Stolpen, which is 1146 feet high ; the 

 Jreat Winterberg, on the right bank of the river Elbe, which is 1836 

 eet ; the Lilienstein, on the right bank of the Elbe, opposite Konig- 

 stein, which is 133S feet high; Mount Catta, near Pirna, which attains 

 1176 feet; and the Porschberg, near Pillnitz, which has an elevation 

 of 1182 feet above the sea-level. The western declivity of this region 

 is intersected by numerous depressions, ravines, and valleys, and on 

 account of its picturesque beauties is frequently resorted to by tra- 

 vellers. It is known by the name of the Saxon Switzerland, and 

 extends along the Elbe from Pirna to the Winterberg, and from six 

 to eight miles from the river. The northern boundary-line of this 

 region may be indicated with tolerable exactness by a line drawn from 

 Dresden eastward to Bautzen. It is in general a poor country, partly 

 covered with forests of rather indifferent growth, and partly with heath, 

 jut there are tracts which make good sheep-walks. The sheep are 

 noted for the quality of their fine wool. Agriculture ia very limited ; 

 sotatoes and oats succeed best, and in some parts flax. There is 

 lowever a large tract of superior fertility, which occupies the most 

 eastern part of the kingdom, on both sides of the Neisse, and consti- 

 tutes a wide depression in the elevated region. The surface here is 

 lilly, but in general it produces all kinds of grain, and nearly as much 

 a* is required for the consumption of the large and populous manu- 

 facturing villages which surround the town of Zittau on the east, 

 north, and west. The plain of Bautzen, which lies along the northern 

 base of the elevated region, is still more fertile, and supplies corn for 

 the consumption of the manufacturing district*. Some coal and iron 

 are found, especially in the neighbourhood of Zittau ; and along the 

 river Elbe there are some quarries of sandstone, the produce of which 

 Is exported. 



The country which extends from the base of this region northward 

 to the boundary-line of Prussia is a plain, on which there are a few 

 isolated hills, among which the Keulenberg, near the town of Konigs- 

 briick, attains the height of 1362 feet above the sea. The soil of this 

 plain is sandy, or gravelly, and mostly unfit for cultivation : about 

 half the surface i* covered with woods, consisting almost entirely of 

 coniferous trees, from which tar and pitch are made. In the cultivable 

 tracts potatoes, oat*, buckwheat, and millet, with some rye, are grown. 

 The sheep-walks are extensive, but of inferior quality. Cattle, goats, 

 and pigs are numerous. 



The western or larger portion of Saxony, which is situated west of 

 the river Elbe, is naturally divided into three regions, the mountainous, 

 the hilly, and the plain. The mountain region lies within the Erz- 

 gebirge, extends over the northern slope of that range, and is bounded 

 on the south by Bohemia. It is occupied with mountain masses, with 

 rather steep declivities, which are furrowed in a direction from south 

 to north by wide and open valleys, and in other directions by smaller 

 valleys. The most elevated summit is the Fichtelberg, near 12 SO' 

 K. long., S966 feet above the sea-level Nearly north of it stand the 

 Pohlberg, 2708 fret high; and farther east the Lugstein, 2934 feet. 

 West of the Fichtelberg are the Cluersberg, which attains 3345 feet; 

 and near Schoneck, the Rammelsberg and the Schnockenstein, respec- 

 tively 8165 and 28S6 feet high. A large portion of this region is 

 covered with forests of beech and pine, which supply fuel for the 

 numerous mines of this district. [ERZOEBIROE.] In the valleys of 

 this region, which are rather thickly inhabited, cultivation is limited 

 to flax, potatoes, and oats ; the population is chiefly supplied with 

 grain from the regions lying farther north. 



The region which extends northward along the northern base of 

 the mountains a* far as Meissen, exhibits an agreeable alternation of 

 hills, vale*, and plains of moderate extent. Its fertility in general is 

 not great, though there are some productive tracts, among which the 

 plains near Chemnitz and Zwickau are distinguished. But the whole 

 region i* cultivated with great care, as its agricultural produce finds a 

 ready sale in the populous towns and villages of the mountain region. 

 The winters are not severe enough to prevent the cultivation of the 

 common kinds of grain. Some of the lower grounds, especially those 

 along the Elbe, are noted for their orchards; and in the vicinity of 

 the town of Meissen a considerable quantity of wine is made. Coals 

 are found in extensive beds not far from Dresden, and in the vicinity 

 of Zwickau. Sheep, cattle, and horses are abundant in these parts. 



The northern portion of Saxony west of the Elbe is a plain, and 

 constitutes the most southern part of the great plain which extends 

 to the shore* of the Baltic. It contains however more hills than occur 

 farther north. The hills ore isolated, and generally low, except tho 



